Friday, April 22, 2016

Choosing Your Goal If You Can Count to Four

Choosing Your Goal

How many people do you imagine know what they want to be in life? How many know what they want to have?

Oh, in a general sense, most everyone has some hazy idea that they want to be famous, important, happy, successful, etc., but it was a shock to me to discover that less than 2% of the people know to any definite degree what they want to be and what they want to have. 98 out of every 100 have not done any clear, distinct, definitized thinking regarding their beingness or havingness.

You may ask the question, why? Why is it that so few have gotten around to defining their goals? Why so many have drifted along with the tide of humanity? Well, it would take many pages to give you the deeper answer, but briefly, at this point, the reason is that only a few or a where is that “thinking” has anything to do with what happens to them.

There are a few basic facts regarding the way the mind functions which I would like to explore with you at this point in our consideration.

You see, our mind, even though it is one, seems to function through two major phases. These two phases, we call the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious phase is the part of us, which is aware, and is the personal and male part of the mind. The subconscious is the impersonal and female part and is not aware.

The conscious phase is the part of us that can say, “I AM.” When you say, “I am happy,” or “I am healthy,” or “I am successful,” or “I am displeased,” or “I am at home,” or “I am sick,” or “I am poor,” or “I am unhappy.” Any such remark, which means that you are aware of some state of beingness is the function of your conscious mind.

Our Creator especially designed us so that we can reason. We can reason either deductively or inductively. But I remembered just how difficult those words were for meat the outset, so instead of calling the two functions of reason deductive and inductive reasoning, with your permission, I will refer to them as the “A” type and “B” type of reasoning.

Our conscious mind has the ability of reason either “A” type or “B” type.

“A” type means that we have the ability to investigate any matter, remark or situation before we will accept it as true.

“B” type means that we have within us the ability to accept it as true on the assumption that it is true without having investigated it.

The subconscious mind has the ability to reason, only according to the “B” type. It cannot investigate, it accepts whatever the conscious mind tells it and accepts it as being true. But once the subconscious accepts anything as true, even though it may be untrue, it begins right away to arrange itself so that whatever it has accepted appears to be true. So it is our privilege to investigate everything that comes our way, that we may know it is true, before we accept it as a part of our beliefs.

That’s me say with all the strength of my beingness, that I believe that one of the most important phases of the entire study of life. Is this phase dealing with the “A” and “B” type reasoning of the two major phases of our minds. Most of the misunderstandings of the ages stem from not understanding how the mind functions in regard to its reasoning processes.

After much sincere and devoted research in this field, I now believe that unless one understands the simple ABC rules of the way the mind functions, one cannot be sure of anything he believes.

For example, before a certain period in the history of the earth, everybody, including the most respected scientists, believe that the earth was flat. No one had ever investigated it. It appeared to be flat to everyone. The leading scientist of the day could give you good, seemingly reliable reasons why it was flat. Why is this possible? How could these scientists be so mistaken? He had used the “B” type reasoning and had assumed that it was flat because it looked like it was flat. He had not used the “A” type reasoning, which made it possible to really investigate it.

But just as soon as a Columbus came along and dared to go beyond what had been done before, and his research proved that the Earth was not flat, but round, the scientists announced the new discovery, and then the millions accepted the new concept on the assumption that they have now found the truth. But the millions used only the “B” type of reasoning.

The above example seems to prove conclusively that it is possible for us to be living on a false premise of values, even though every bit of evidence which we have tends to prove that we are right.

But isn’t it a marvelous thing to know that now we can take everything that we presently believe and put it upon the table of investigation and find out the genuine truth about it by using the “A” type of reasoning.

Let me say, that in my own personal experience, I have found that when things were not going well in some phase of my life, I later found out that it was because I was not aware of the truth regarding that phase. When I learned the truth about that phase, things became harmonious and satisfactory.

Now, due to the nature of the functions of the two major phases of the mind, 98% of the people do not understand the way the mind works. They are the victims of every suggestion which comes their way. Whether it comes from a friend, a parent, a minister, radio, television or newspapers. They do not know that, whatever impresses the conscious, and in turn impresses the subconscious, must express itself in their lives as an experience.

Each idea of which we conceive in the conscious mind is like a seed in the vegetable realm. If we believe it, and impress it upon our subconscious, it is like planting a seed in good soil. The subconscious is the womb of life, like the soil is the womb of the vegetable realm and the proton is the womb of the mineral realm. The challenge is to become as familiar with the “thought” realm as we are with the animal, the vegetable and the mineral realms.

In the “thought” realm, the idea concept is the father. The subconscious is the mother, and the result is the son.

Now, we are all exercising this great law at every waking moment. Whatever we permit ourselves to give our attention units to, we appropriate the law of sowing and reaping in the realm of “thought.” Now, since this is true, we can well understand that throughout all the past, we have all been giving our attention to something during every waking moment. And since the law says that we reap what we sow, we have been reaping, in our daily experiences, the result of our sowings.

Maybe you will say, “I didn’t realize that I sowed the type of seed that would bring me such a harvest as this.” But as I said before, many of us are not aware that we are sowing, but it doesn’t matter whether we are aware of it or not, we put the law in motion when we give our attention to either the lovely or the unlovely and we must reap the harvest after its kind.

Now we know that we are thinking beings. We also know that we can think only one thought at a time. We know that we can control this talk, which searches through our beingness. We can direct it in any direction we choose. We can design the type of experiences we desire to express. We can determine just what we want to be and half, and the entire universe, with all its power, wisdom and unlimited resources is behind us to help us attain our goal.

Every man and woman in history, who has received any recognition, has consciously or unconsciously directed his or her attention toward a goal of his or her own choosing, and by controlling his or her attention, he or she invoked the infinite powers of the universe on his or her behalf.

Every book, it seems to me, that has been written on success, in recent years, tells the story of Henry Ford, Thomas A. Edison, John Wannamaker, William Wrigley and the familiar ones. It is true that the successful gentleman mentioned have chosen a definite goal, and used to the principles of success in order to attain them.

However, it is my desire to make it quite clear, that anyone, regardless of who he may be, regardless of his station in life at the present time, can discover his goal in life and by directing his attention to it, can obtain it and live a very happy, healthy and prosperous life.

It has been said that 98 people out of every 100 do not have a goal or main purpose in life. That is not true. Every person has a goal or a major purpose in life. Every person was especially designed to serve or express life in some particular channel well. 98 have not discovered their channel as yet.

The Bible tells us to: “Ask, and it shall be given unto us;” “Seek, and ye shall find;” “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Perhaps your goal, at this time, should be to find your main goal in life. Then ask that you be shown just what your major purpose in life is. Whom do you ask? Ask God. How do you ask God? God is infinite intelligence.

The subconscious phase of our mind is the channel through which we contact and infinite intelligence. When we have a movement of thought (controlled) in the conscious mind, the defined ideas contained in our thoughts are impressed upon the subconscious, which in turn, in its own way, takes it up with the infinite intelligence and the answer comes back just as tangibly as a telephone or a telegraph message.

The answer comes back through natural means. Sometimes, it comes through a person, sometimes through intuition. So, let each of us, who is still in the list with the 98, get busy and start asking infinite intelligence to tell us what our “big channel of service” is.

This works, I know, because I have been working it for years as casually as writing a letter or making a telephone call.

Now, soon, you will know what your goal in life is. Soon you will know what you want to be. Soon you will know how to appropriate all the wisdom, power, material, and ingredients and anything you desire in the invisible or the visible realm of life.

Because, when you have learned the tremendous power of directing your attention toward whatever you desire, you will begin the type of beingness and the type of havingness that you have secretly dreamed about all your life.

It is necessary that each of us decide what we want to be and what we want to have.

Until we definitely decide what our goal is, we will be confronted with the necessity of making a new decision every day of what our goal is for that particular day. Each night, before we go to sleep, we should design the pattern of our activities for the following day in terms of our goal.

When we do that, the subconscious is impressed and it works on that pattern all night while we are asleep. Then we seem to automatically do everything right all day the next day. The pattern which we design and take to bed with us is easy to follow the next day.

But, if we neglect to design a desirable pattern, just before we go to bed, and unconsciously go to sleep with mood, we will go through the next day with a negative mood.

There is one exception to this. If you have a quiet time, early during the day, you can use your will power to neutralize your negative mood, and dynamically outline a positive pattern, on the spot, for the rest of the day.

1. So, first of all, we define our goals.
2. Then we must develop a strong feeling, or a “white heat” desire for our objectives.
3. The subconscious responds to our desires to the degree of our feeling impressed upon it.

How do we develop a “white heat” feeling regarding our objectives? But assuming how we would feel if we already were what we want to be or we already have what we desire to possess. Also, by visiting with a companion or a friend whom we know will be for us and who will share our joys of attainment.

Another very helpful technique is to obtain color pictures of what you want and put them on the wall by your bed, near the mirror, in the bathroom, and any other place where you will see them frequently.

May I share a personal experience with you, which will illustrate a very effective method of building a burning desire and a consciousness for something new? A few years ago, while I was in the insurance and investment business, our company issued a special 6 year annuity investment policy. Very few of our agents around the country sold much of it.

For the first three years I was with the company, I did not sell a single policy of that type. I had no feeling for it. I did not see its value. I had no desire to sell it and consequently did not sell it.

However, as an experiment, after discovering the principle of how my mind worked, I decided to use the principle and see what would happen. I obtained all the literature available on this policy, and each night, just before going to sleep, I read and studied the entire kit of literature thoroughly. I did that for about 30 nights.

At the same time, I made a 15 minute recording on my record player and for the entire 15 minutes, I made statements from the assumption that I was an expert selling a minimum amount of this policy each week. I played this recording over and over each night and morning during this 30 day period.

Pretty soon, I began to see why certain men and women would want to invest their money in that plan. During the month that this took place, I wrote enough of this plan to earn $440 in commission.

During the following month, I earned $1200 on that one plan. I became an expert in presenting the plan to people who were able to invest large sums in that type of plan.

Note that, before I conditioned my mind, by reading the entire kit of literature over and over, each night for 30 nights, and playing the recording over and over to myself, I had known about the plan for three years, and yet had made no sales at all.

May I suggest to you, if you are selling something as a vocation, try the above experiment. Anything that you can devise that will help you to control your conscious attention is good, that is, if it is honest and does not harm anyone else.

Many people do the following.

1. They assume that they already have attained their objective and then plan to dramatize an event which could only take place if they have already attained their goal.
2. Then, they play this little drama, and the subconscious is impressed, because it is implied that they have are ready reach their goal.

We had a party at our house celebrating my debut on television about three months before my first television program. We assumed that we had just come from the studio and all of us were celebrating my first telecast. We all were in on the principle, and understood its power, and everyone was excited and congratulations were extended to me as though I had given a good lecture, etc.

That was three months before my first appearance on television, on June 19th. At that time, we did not know just when would be able to start the series of telecasts. We were using a known technique to impress our subconscious minds and developing a definitized, burning, obsessional desire for our goal. May I suggest that you get some friends to play the game with you. Have him or her shake your hand and congratulate you on having become the person you desire to be or having attained the goal you desire to obtain.

This applies to any quality of mind that you desire to have. It also applies to any type of expression, you might desire to experience, such as singing, traveling, golfing, etc.

This also applies to employment. It also applies to the size of your income. Get a notebook and begin to list the things that you want to be and have. You can change it as often as you wish, but you will soon find that your desires will begin to stabilize and you will soon feel strongly along certain lines.

Your real and genuine desires will come forth and you will be one of the 2% instead of one of the 98% who do not know what they want to be or what they want to have.

Let me challenge you to know that we live in an inexhaustible abundance in this universe. There is no limit to what you can be or have, except your ability to dream and believe in your dream.